NEWS: YouTuber & star of RuPaul’s Drag Race Todrick Hall will star as Billy Flynn in the West End’s Chicago

Star of RuPaul’s Drag Race, American Idol and YouTube sensation Todrick Hall will star as Billy Flynn in Chicago from 19 November 2018 until the end of the show’s run at the Phoenix Theatre on 5 January 2019.

Alexandra Burke plays the role of Roxie Hart until 10 November and Duncan James plays the role of Billy Flynn until 17 November.

Todrick Hall first rose to fame as a semi-finalist on the ninth series of American Idol. He joined YouTube in 2006 where he now has 2.9 million subscribers with his videos being viewed over 593 million times. In 2016 he appeared as a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race, later appearing as a full-time judge for RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars 2 and again for the ninth season last year. No stranger to theatre, he has appeared on Broadway as Billy Flynn in Chicago and Lola in Kinky Boots.

Following a successful UK and international tour, and after a five and a half year absence from London, the Kander and Ebb musical, winner of six Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards and a Grammy, began performances at the Phoenix Theatre in London on 26 March 2018, with a press night on 11 April.

Since it opened in New York in 1996, Chicago has played in 36 countries worldwide, and been performed in English, Dutch, German, Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Italian, French, Danish, Japanese and Korean. It has grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide and has played over 32,500 performances worldwide, with an estimated 31 million people around the world having seen the musical. Chicago continues to play on Broadway, where it celebrated its 21st birthday last year, and around the world in multiple languages.

The show is based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins, has a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1996 Broadway revival of Chicago was choreographed by Ann Reinking in the style of Bob Fosse, directed by Walter Bobbie, and produced by Barry and Fran Weissler.